Posted by:
Ben zhao
9/25/2008 7:37:33 PM
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| Title: |
100 Questions |
| Grade Level: |
High School |
| Subject Area: |
Arts
Language Arts
Social Studies
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| Lesson Time: |
5 ninety minute class periods |
| Introduction: |
Dr. Paul Polak has said about design that if you
haven’ t had conversations with at least twenty-five
people who you are trying to serve, don’ t bother.
In this lesson, students will practice problem
solving skills through asking questions and going through a
design challenge. Students will: - build the
mental habits of an inquirer
- learn to be
reflective
- understand the role of empathy in
design
- use research skills to understand another
culture
- use problem solving skills to design a
solution for an emerging country
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| Standards: |
Visual Arts Standard 2. Using knowledge of
structures and functions. Standard 3. Choosing and
evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas.
Standard 5. Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and the work of
others. Language Arts Standard 7. Uses reading
skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety
of informational texts |
| Objectives: |
Students will: - have better habits of always being curious
and asking questions
- learn to be more reflective of their
own thoughts and emotions
- learn the importance of empathy
as the most important criteria in the design profession and
for anyone in a position of power
- practice problem solving
skills
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| Resources: |
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| Materials: |
- sketchbooks
- pencils
- model/presentation materials
(determined by each project)
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| Vocabulary: |
- self analysis: a penetrating examination of your own
thoughts, beliefs, and motives
- reflective: the state of
being deeply or seriously thoughtful
- inquirers: people who
are curious, who ask questions
- thinkers: people who ponder
the state of things; people who are curious
- caring: a
feeling of concern or interest
- balanced: a state of
equilibrium; symmetry; equality of distribution
- empathy:
understanding another person’ s feelings
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| Procedures: |
1. Have your students work in pairs. Try pairing a
boy with a girl or a freshman with an upperclassman (the
goal is for each student to gain a perspective of someone
who they think they understand, but actually do not).
Ask each student to take a turn being the
“ client” and the “ designer. ”
Each “ designer” will ask the “
client” fifty questions as if they were designing a
solution for something that may be difficult in that
person’ s life. Ask them to record these
questions in their sketchbooks. End the class period
by leading a discussion on what each student learned from
this exercise. Were they surprised by their
partner’ s answers? Did they find that one
question would lead to another question? 2. During
the next class meeting, ask your students to apply the
empathy they gained from the previous exercise to a new
design challenge. In small groups, have students
choose one emerging country to research. As they
collect information about this country, ask them to
identify a challenge that the country may face. As
they begin to identify this challenge, they should narrow
their research. Remind them to take in to account
the country’ s culture and customs. After each
group has compiled research relevant to their challenge,
ask them to generate a list of 50 - 100 questions
that they would like to ask their client if possible.
Again, end the class by discussing how the previous
day’ s exercise influenced the questions they chose
to ask today. 3. During the third class meeting,
have the students return to their groups. Give them
15 minutes to brainstorm possible solutions to their
identified problem. They must then choose two to
three of their best ideas that they would like to pursue.
Give your students another 30 minutes to develop
these ideas. They may sketch, model, do additional
research, etc. during this time. At the end of the
class meeting, allow time for each group to briefly present
their identified challenge and their possible solutions.
Remind them to articulate how each design addresses
the challenge. Encourage the class to give
constructive feedback to each group on how to improve each
of their designs how to pick one design to continue to work
on. 4. On the fourth day, student groups should use
the entire class period to create any final prototypes or
presentation materials. Groups should discuss how
they will present their ideas to the class. If any
of the design solutions does not lend itself to a visual
object or rendering, encourage them to think about
alternate ways to convey their solutions (through writing,
oral presentation, digital media, graphs, charts, etc. ).
5. The final class meeting should be used for
student presentation and critique. Allow each group
15 minutes to present their project. Remind them to
answer the following questions: What challenge did
you identify? Who is your client? How does your
solution address the challenge and client’ s specific
needs? Encourage the class to ask questions and give
each group constructive feedback. At the end of the
period lead a discussion with the entire class. Ask
the following questions: How did you arrive at your final
solution? What would you do next if you had more time
to work on it? How was it working in teams?
What role did empathy play in the design process? |
| Assessment: |
Students should be evaluated based on their class
participation. Final assessment should also reflect
the student’ s development and involvement in the
design process as a whole, not the final product.
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Enrichment
Extension Activities: |
No Enrichment Extension Activities available. |
| Teacher Reflection: |
N/A. |
Related
Files: |
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